Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 169: Here They Come

"I think that makes this piece of cloth mine," she said.

He took it, kissed her forehead again.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"You," he said.

She smiled. "Silly. What do you want out of life?"

"You first," he said.

She smiled. "My desires are simpler. I want people to be happy. To live free. And well. With enough to eat.

In good health.I want to serve the pavilion here and live a life serving others" She shrugged. "I like it when people are happy." She smiled at him. "And brave. And good."

He winced. "War must be very hard on you."

He Winced again. "Brave and good?"

"Yes," she said. She shook her head. "You don"t know me very well, not yet. Now you. What do you want?"

He shook his head. He didn"t dare tell the truth and didn"t want to lie to her. So he tried to find a middle ground. "To defy the heavens, and everyone under it."

He shrugged, sure that her face had just hardened, set in automatic anger.He immediately changed his answer "To be the best Qi warrior in the righteous faction."

She looked at him. The moon was up and her face shone. "You?"

"If you want to be an untouched poor pavilion member your whole life, then I want to be the best warrior of the righteous faction," he said. "If you, with that wealth of Qi and bloodline in you, deny everything to be a normal pavilion member, then I – cursed by the heavens to sin – can be a righteous great warrior." He smiled.

She smiled with him. This one here was a good, pleasing memory – smiling in the moonlight, without a shadow of reserve on her face. She held out her arms, they embraced, and then she left.

He did not stay either and left immediately. He went up the steps to his accommodation, drank off a cold cup of tea that had once been hot. But before he let himself sleep, he woke Dong and sent him for Xianfeng Zhai, his group's bookkeeper. The man came softly, in a heavy overrobe.

"I don"t mean to whine," said the bookkeeper, "But do you know what time it is?"

Wuyi drank a cup of wine wash off the cold tea he had drank. "I want you to ask around," he said. "I don"t know what I"m looking for, but I"m hoping you can find it for me. I know I"m not making sense. But there"s a traitor in this fortress. I have suspicions, but nothing like a shred of proof.

Who here can communicate with the outside world? Who has a secret hatred of the Pavilion Mistress? Or a secret love for the demonics? Most importantly, you are the bookkeeper who has all the ledgers, so make sure except our trusted people no one knows any details or our warriors' whereabouts."

The bookkeeper shook his head, yawned. "I"ll be careful," he said. "Can I go back to bed?"

"You will take it seriously if you don"t want demonics chewing your bones," he said.

The bookkeeper rolled his eyes. Wuyi had been threatening them with fear of demonics on a daily basis now – but he waited until he was out of Wuyi"s door to do it.

Wuyi finished his cup and threw himself, fully dressed, on his bed. When the fort bell rang he tried not to count the rings, so he could pretend he"d had a full night"s sleep.

Jia came to visit Wuyi in the morning. He saw his young master in deep sleep resting. He envied Wuyi. The archers said he"d "been busy" half the night with his pretty pavilion member who took care of the sick, and Jia was vaguely envious, vaguely jealous, and desperately admiring. And mad as hell, of course. It was unfair.

After the raid, it was the third day that had been so without any event. Jia had begun to wonder whether Wuyi was wrong. He"d told them the enemy would attack but nothing happened.

Things started to change on the fourth day; the flying serpents flew back and forth. Something monstrous belled and belled, a high, clear note made somehow huge and terrifying in the woods.

Yuei had shot a swamping almost three hundred li away – shooting from a high tower, over the fog, on the dawn breeze. He was now drunk as a lord on the beer ration provided by his group. But it didn"t seem to change anything.

The demonics were coming very close to the fort now.

While Jia was wondering. Wuyi came in. "Go to bed," he said.

Jia needed no second urging. But he paused in the doorway. "They are active but No attack?" he said.

"Your talent for stating the obvious must make you wildly popular," Wuyi said savagely.

Jia shrugged. "Sorry."

Wuyi rubbed his head. "I was sure he"d attack today. Instead, he"s sent something – and I worry it"s a strong force – south across the river, despite our burning his boats. There"s a convoy down there, he"s going to destroy it, and I can"t stop him – or even try – until I"ve bloodied his nose in my little trap, and my trap isn"t catching anything." Wuyi drank some wine. "It"s all hubris.

I can"t actually say what the enemy will do."

Jia was stung. "You"ve done all right so far."

Wuyi shrugged. "It"s all luck. Go sleep. The fun part of this is over. If he doesn"t go for the trench—"

"Why should he?" Jia asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Wuyi asked, pouring himself more wine. He spilled some.

"Just an interested bystander," Jia said, and casually yawned raising his hand, as if by mistake on purpose, knocked Wuyi"s wine. "Sorry, young master. I"ll fetch more."

Wuyi stiffened, and then yawned. "Nah. I"ve had too much. He has to assume I"ve filled the trench with men and that with one good rush he can overrun it and kill half my force."

"But you have filled it with men," Jia said. "I saw you send them out."

Wuyi smiled.

Jia shook his head. "Where are they?"

"In the bridge fort," Wuyi said. "It was very clever, but either he saw through the whole thing or he"s too much of a coward to try us." He looked in his wine cup and made a face. "Where"s Miss Huan?" he asked. Then he relented. "Why don"t you go see her?"

Jia bowed. "Good night," he said. And he slipped out into the hallway and pulled pallet across Wuyi"s door.

Wuyi decided nothing else was worth doing today but to wait, so he rather meditated. Ever since he had come here, he had been enjoying living roughly like his warriors, losing the elegance he wanted to maintain. But then again, when it is a matter of life and death, elegance always takes a backseat.

He woke up from meditation without knowing what had awakened him, and found Jia, who had never gone to bed,standing by near his Qi armour stand preparing Wuyi"s armoured Qi cloak. He wasn"t even awake from his deep session and Jia was already ready to bring the cloak to make him wear it, and then Wuyi wore his shoes on over bare legs and was going towards the wall.

"Bridge fort," Wanxie shouted from the tower above them.Jia was multitasking, trying to get Wuyi dressed in armor while Wuyi walked.

He looked in sky and the sky was clear. The fog was gone – it had been swept away in a mighty gust of wind.

Wuyi felt the wind, and knew it for what it was. He smiled into it. "Here we go," he said.

Two beacon fires were alight, and there was a lot of shouting – the distinctive sound of men in danger, or anger.

"We need a way to communicate with the Bridge Castle," Wuyi said, leaning against the wall. Nearby, Jia and a pair of attendants followed, lugging his armor as they moved. The scene could have been comical if the circumstances weren't so dire.

Jia gradually got Wuyi into his armored cloak as the infuriating young master moved from position to position throughout the fortress. He made off-color jokes to nursing pavilion elders and he clasped hands with Baijian and he ordered Meiying to mount up in the new covered alley in the courtyard. Jia assumed, they were covered to keep the flying serpents off the horses.

An hour later, the west tower ballista loosed a large arrow with a sharp crack. As far as Jia could see, the bolt had no effect out in the dark.

Jia got the rest of his own armor on too, paused to rest, and fell asleep standing up at the corner where the west wall intersected the west tower.

He awoke to a loud roar. A sea of fire stretched almost to his feet, and screams pierced the full-throated bellow of war. Wuyi stood straight with his hand behind his back, looking straight as if he was a general of war. "Here they come!" he shouted. "On my mark!"

Jia looked up and saw a man leaning far out over the west tower edge, and the sky was not light, but it was grey.

"Welcome back," Wuyi said cheerfully. "Had a good nap?"

"Sorry," Jia mumbled.